


Torn

by Rhy (LacrymosaLifestory)



Category: My Candy Love
Genre: Closeted Character, F/M, Implied Relationships, Jealousy, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Underage Smoking, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 08:48:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17464307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LacrymosaLifestory/pseuds/Rhy
Summary: It's official now, but it's true that with school relationships comes school drama. The thing is, it's not petty drama when there's lies and secrets, and someone innocent could be hurt, but will they tell the truth? Willhechoose to tell the truth?





	Torn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plenty of their classmates are happy for them, but there's a selective few that aren't. Kentin hides hurt behind anger and isolation, Nathaniel pretends he doesn't care, and then, he sees the text.

It’s the biggest news since the orienting race and the concert.

Candy and Castiel are officially together, and that’s all anyone in Amour Sucré seemed to talk about lately. Most of the girls in Candy’s class were happy for her while Amber trudged hallways, perpetually scowling, her mascara smeared most days. Li and Charlotte fussed over her, telling her that they could always break up, as Castiel and Deborah had, and that if she glared that often, her face would wrinkle. It did as much help as expected.

Nathaniel knew better than to offer solace to his belligerent sister. If she was deaf to her own friends' words of comfort, he had reasonable doubt to consider any approach of her hurt feelings pointless. More often than he liked, he had been unwilling witness to her hallway tantrums when she realized that Candy was never walking alone for her to pounce on. No, Candy was attached to Castiel at the hip for the most part, if she wasn't with Violette and Kim.

Not many of the boys really batted their eyes, either. Alexy wasn’t surprised, he’d been expecting it with the way that Candy was so persistent in protecting Castiel from Deborah, and Armin could care less about anything besides his games and the comfort of indoors. As for Lysander, it’s quite the mystery figuring out how he felt or thought of certain things, being as reserved as he was, though Nathaniel doesn’t doubt that he must be ecstatic for both of his friends.

Of all the boys to have found out Candy’s relationship status though, Kentin was the unhappiest. He talked to no one, he isolated himself, he was always outside during breaks, and he was the first to leave when the bell rang. No one really said anything about it.

They must be feeling that same thing; that unjustified betrayal, that horrible sadness, and the hollowness that followed when all of the pain was released. It’s not for Nathaniel to ask, or to comfort him. After all, he had never been close to Kentin, he could have easily counted all interactions on one hand.

Three interactions, two times being about Candy. The first time that they interacted, which was the singular time Candy wasn’t involved, Kentin was transferring in and came in the office for paperwork, Nathaniel honestly thought Kentin was in the wrong school, because of how short and childlike he looked. He entertained the notion of a fifth-grader being ahead of his class, since Kentin’s airy and high-pitched voice hadn’t helped his case much, and when Nathaniel had asked him, suspense choking him, he was speechless that Kentin (or “Ken”) insisted he was a senior.

The second time was when Candy discovered that Amber stole money from Ken, and she wasn’t leaving Nathaniel’s office until he agreed to do something about it. Nathaniel talked to Amber, as well as that often went when it came to the ostracized transfer students, and when she wouldn’t budge, Nathaniel sought Ken out, apologized on her behalf, and was going to reimburse him, despite it being the last of Nathaniel’s money, but Ken declined and said that if Nathaniel really was sorry, he needed to prove such by protecting Candy from Amber on his behalf.

That was the day before Ken was transferred to military school.

The last time they interacted was when the three of them were looking for Leigh’s suit in Fleur & Evenings store. On the way there, Nathaniel had been more than fine walking alone there, but Candy had wanted to talk about the possibility of repairing his relationship with Castiel once the Deborah situation was cleared. Kentin had noticed them talking to each other, got angry, and pulled Candy away from Nathaniel. Even after Nathaniel insisted that he only saw Candy as a friend, Kentin was guarded and offended the whole time together, and then, they fought outside the gates to the local park, Candy sneaking away amidst their bickering:

“Quit flirting with her, creep!” Kentin snapped. “Just because you have look like Tamaki Suoh’s long lost brother, don’t think you stand a chance with her!”

“How many times must I tell you that I do _not_ like her like that?! We’re friends, that’s all!” said Nathaniel exasperatedly, slapping his hand to his face with a tired groan.

“' _Just friends_ ’?” Kentin strode over, shoved Nathaniel against the locked park gates, and leaned into his personal space, scowling darkly at him.

If Ken had stayed the same size and was this angry ball of energy, Nathaniel would have laughed at the fact that he would have had to tilt his head up to glare at him, but their heights were level, and perhaps Kentin was more angry and irritable than he had been before his transfer, but Nathaniel hadn’t felt that threatened, trying his hardest not to snicker as much as throat burned to.

“It better stay _that_ way, or I will personally see to breaking both of your hands.”

“Ken—”

“That’s _Kentin_ for you.”

“Ken _tin_ ,” Nathaniel enunciated coolly, lifting one of his hands from his sides to nonchalantly shove Kentin back and almost smirking when the brunette nearly fell on his ass on the street. “I’m _not_ interested in Candy, so please stop wasting your breath. I have someone.”

Kentin had been glaring at him, probably saw that Nathaniel was going to smirk at him for his bout of clumsiness, but as soon as he had said the words, _‘I have someone’_ , Kentin jumped to his feet and gravitated towards Nathaniel, not in a threatening way, but of an eager curious puppy.

“ _What_?! Really?! That’s all you had to say, man!” Kentin chirped, slapping Nathaniel on the shoulder with an open-mouthed grin that was all teeth. “Wow, I’m sorry! If I had known…”

“Yes, well,” Nathaniel brushed Kentin’s hand off of his shoulder firmly. “Now you do.”

“Is it Melody?” asked Kentin, green eyes sparkling.

“A gentleman never tells.” Nathaniel mused.

“Oh, c’mon, Nathaniel! Don’t be like that, man!” Kentin throttled at Nathaniel’s arm, “Tell me! Don’t leave me hanging like that!”

“My lips are sealed. Anyway, am I really taking the suit to Rosalya then?”

“Yup!”

“Fine then.”

It was quite the stretch to call them friends, even acquaintances. As much as Nathaniel related to Kentin’s mood lately, he felt it wasn’t his place. Nathaniel kept his distance from the object of his turmoil, from Candy, from Amber, and from Kentin. He resumed the motions of his everyday school life, as the student council president, not that he didn’t talk to any of them when he was approached by them first, but Nathaniel preferred keeping to himself. It made the pain more manageable.

He walked out of the office, carrying four paper reams that he needed to drop off in three of the classrooms. Classroom B needed two of the reams, since that was where their language lessons took place. As he walked down the hall, he overheard Rosalya and Alexy by the lockers outside of Classroom B.

“—No, he hasn’t talked to me either.” said Alexy softly, “I’m really worried about him.”

“He’s really taking this hard, huh? Poor Ken.” Rosalya sighed.

“I know, but it’s not like it would be better for him if Candy forced her feelings, you know? If she likes Castiel, then what can you do besides cheer them on?”

“It’s simple for you to say that. Don’t you know? He’s been in love with her since grade school.”

“I get that, and I do feel bad for him, but he’s not helping himself by shutting his friends out. He’s never going to feel better if he doesn’t even want to try.”

“Maybe you should talk to him?” asked Rosalya.

“He doesn’t talk to me.” Alexy shrugged, “I could ask Armin—”

“ _Armin is out-of-service_!” said a voice from inside the locker, “ _Return later_!”

“Armin, get out of there.” Alexy groaned.

“ _No, the ceiling lights will burn me_!”

“Drama queen.” Rosalya teased, grinning slightly.

Nathaniel hesitantly set the reams down on the floor to momentarily open the door to Classroom B, then picked them back up. As he was going to walk past the threshold, he was yanked back, and to his horror, the reams went flying in the air. He yelped.

“Hey, Nath.” said Rosalya nonchalantly, turning him around to her. “Favor, _please_?”

“I’m busy, Rosa.” Nathaniel groaned. “Can’t you wait?”

“What if it’s a life-or-death situation?” asked Rosalya seriously. “What if Leigh is breaking up with me?”

“Yeah, what if _Julien’s_ closes?” Alexy chimed in, peering over Rosalya’s back at Nathaniel.

“ _What if they cancel videogames_?!”

Nathaniel slapped his hand to his face. Lysander was right. It really was easier to agree to Rosalya the first time around, it saved you that headache.

“What if Leigh’s cheating on me?!” She continued, “I would die! The heartbreak would kill me!”

“If Lorde quit singing, I would cry.” Alexy sniveled.

“ _If the moon was nuclear-blasted, there wouldn’t be anymore nighttime. Then, there would be no more shadows to hide in. That means light. So much freaking light, you guys_!” said Armin matter-of-factly, ignored by pretty much all three of them.

“What favor, Rosa?” asked Nathaniel firmly, raising his brow at her.

Immediately, Alexy and Rosalya’s faces brightened, and Nathaniel regretted asking the question just as quickly as their sullen faces had changed.

“Well, you know how Ken really likes Candy?” asked Rosalya.

“Who doesn’t at this point?” Nathaniel shrugged.

“Well, yeah, so,” said Alexy quickly, “He’s sad, and he isn’t letting any of us come up to him to talk. He’s ignoring texts, too.”

“ _The worst part is I’m not trying to talk to him about feelings! It’s that I just wanna talk about how disappointed I am in Fallout_ —”

“Oh my, God!” Alexy turned to the locker, “Nobody cares, Armin!”

“ _Don’t get your knickers in a twist, Alexy_.”

"You can't say that, you aren't English!"

“Ignoring the idiots,” Rosalya smiled sweetly, though she looked on the brink of strangling the two. “I was hoping you’d try talking to him.”

“Why me?” asked Nathaniel incredulously. “We’re not friends.”

“Right, so he won’t think anything when you go up to him! None the wiser!” Alexy exclaimed.

“It’s a perfect plan,” Rosalya agreed. “Then, you’ll lay your real purpose of being there on him, and he can’t refuse you.”

“Because you aren’t his friend,” Alexy babbled, “And he doesn’t hate you over something you might have done that was in hindsight a bad idea!”

“Wait, what?” Rosalya turned to him. “That was _oddly_ specific.”

“ _Oddly specific._ ” Armin echoed.

“I have a vivid imagination and a knack for these killer details.” said Alexy, flashing his megawatt smile widely.

“Right, well,” Nathaniel scooped up the reams, thankful that he kept them all packaged. “I’ll see to it _after_ I’ve put these away where they were requested.”

“Thank-you Nath!” Rosalya ran over to him, pecking his forehead.

“You’re a real babe!” Alexy added.

“ _Are you going to suck his dick, too_ —OW!”

“Shut up, Armin!”

“Both of you settle down this instant, or I will lock you two in the basement!”

Nathaniel shook his head, walking off to deliver the reams.

***

Nathaniel found Kentin in the locker room. He was lying on his back on the benches in the center of the locker aisles in the far back, dragging from a cigarette as he blankly stared at the ceiling, his white button up folded to pillow his head on the bench and his leg tucked over the other. Nathaniel did a double-take, surprised, Kentin would be the last person for Nathaniel to think of when it came to smoking.

As he stood there, thinking of the situation and seeing Kentin there, he felt more and more out of element, more a fool than he did when Rosalya asked this of him. It wasn’t too late for him to turn back, lie that there had been an overflow of requests from teachers about needing supplies, Rosalya wouldn’t pry, he hoped. As bad as he felt for Kentin right now, it was odder to have someone you barely knew talking to you about something so personal, and Nathaniel knew that as angry as Kentin felt, he would eventually give, he just needed the time. 

“You’re gonna tell me to put it out, right?” asked Kentin wryly, stopping Nathaniel from making the turn to walk out.

“Ideally, you should.” said Nathaniel, resigning himself to Rosalya’s favor after all. “If you’re caught, you could be suspended.”

“If I’m caught.” Kentin repeated, tilting his head back to look Nathaniel over with his eyes, the blond appearing upside down in his sight. “Gonna say something, P?”

“Don’t make this a habit at school.” said Nathaniel sternly in reply.

“Sure thing.” Kentin turned back to the ceiling, dragging slowly from his cigarette.

Nathaniel didn’t know what more there was to say. He had heard that Kentin was isolating himself within the locker room during breaks, and he hadn’t wanted to make it that obvious that he was intentionally seeking the brunette out, so he brought his backpack and walked to his locker, in the rows neighboring Kentin’s spot on the bench. He walked over, turned the dial on the lock, and went through his backpack, quietly stocking hygienic products inside since he had run out of the ones he had been using. He had been meaning to do it, but with the news of the latest relationship buzz and the tasks he purposely sought from teachers, Nathaniel hadn’t had much of an opportunity until now, and it didn’t hurt that it made him appear less conspicuous in his reason for coming here.

“What’s it like?” asked Kentin quietly, taking one last blow from his cigarette, then he put it out on the underside of the wooden bench, dropping the butt to the floor. Nathaniel hoped he would pick it up later and put it in the trash.

“What’s what like?” Nathaniel glanced.

“To be in a relationship.” Kentin sat up, staring at him. “A real one where you both like each other, and you do things together all the time. Is it nice?”

“It’s not always nice, no.” Nathaniel pushed the locker shut, reattached the lock, and turned the dial rapidly, then turned back to Kentin, sitting down next to him. “The truth is… it’s as much of a pain to be in one as it is to be without being in one. It’s a different kind of pain than loneliness. Sure, there are good times, and when you two really like each other, it could last a while, but inevitably… with good, there is some bad. Maybe one of you does something that the other doesn’t like, so it’s made into this big deal and you fight about it.”

“Like what?” Kentin raised his brow.

“What’s one thing that really annoys you? _Not_ a person, I mean like something a person does that can annoy you.” Nathaniel palmed his cheek as he waited.

“Um, okay.” Kentin muttered, thoughtful. “ _Oh!_ I really hate it when people are disruptive and loud in public places. Makes it hard to concentrate. Or when there’s the last pack of chocolate cookies on the shelf at the Dollar Store, and you reach to get it, but someone else reaches for it, too, and it’s a kid, and you’re suddenly in a competition of whose life is shittier enough to deserve the last pack of cookies more.”

“Alright, well,” Nathaniel nodded. “Think of the person that you like doing those things, to _you_ , or in front of you. How would that make you feel?”

“That doesn’t make any sense. What if you know for a fact that the person you like wouldn’t do those things? I sure as hell know Candy wouldn’t do either—”

“Perhaps she wouldn't, but how about this then? There are times where people can change, and it's a change you don't like," said Nathaniel, "Or that the person that you thought you knew better than anyone else turns out to be completely different when it's just the two of you. Would you be okay with that?" 

“Well, why would anyone do that? Isn’t that like… lying?”

“I suppose so, yes. I think that people act, because they feel like they have to. That the person or the people that they are different with wouldn’t like them as they are really.”

“Does your girlfriend do that?” 

Nathaniel almost slipped. He almost said, _‘My boyfriend does do that, and so do I’_ , but he quickly swallowed his words and nodded, lowering his eyes to the floor as the memories flashed through his head. The on-and-off; drifting together, drifting apart, seeking solace in the physical, ignoring each other for days on end if they weren’t fighting. Such grim secrets, if everyone knew, perhaps his life would have tarnished further than it already had. No one could know, even if it was immoral to keep it quiet, even if of all people to know the twisted truth, Candy deserved to.

“Don’t you think you could do better, then?” asked Kentin.

“I could ask you the same thing.” Nathaniel glanced at him.

“I guess.” Kentin sneered.

“There’s more to it than that, of course, but it goes with the experience for each person. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it just doesn’t, and you can sulk about it for as long as you like, but it wouldn’t change a thing.” said Nathaniel, sounding cold to his own ears, adding, “They could break up at some point, sure, but don’t kid yourself into thinking that it's your chance. It’ll hurt more, I know that from my own experience. That second time that you’re cast aside? It hurts more than when being forgotten in place of someone else, than being ignored.”

Kentin frowned at him.

“Surround yourself with friends,” said Nathaniel. “They’re really worried about you, and of all people to talk to, you should talk to them. Or better yet, focus more on school work. That only helps you, you know.”

“Right,” Kentin sniffed at that, fighting back a smirk at that as he reached behind him for his button-up and slid it on each arm one at a time. He looked back at Nathaniel. “Hey. Question.”

“Shoot.” Nathaniel raised a brow.

“How do _you_ feel about them being together? Really?” asked Kentin, “I wouldn’t be angry, y'know. If you do like Candy.”

“Kentin, I don’t care.” Nathaniel chuckled, shrugging. “I've told you. I don't like her like that, and I've warned her before. It's really her choice who she wants to date."

"Warned her about what?" asked Kentin, frowning. "You think he'll hurt her?" 

“No, no,” Nathaniel shook his head. “ _Not_ on purpose anyway. Rather, it would be the fault of his own stupidity and recklessness, I suppose. I could be overthinking it, so take it with a grain of salt, if you will.”

“I guess I can try, kinda got me worried now.” Kentin sighed, and Nathaniel gently patted his shoulder.

“She'll be fine, worry about getting yourself to class now.” said Nathaniel.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m going.” Kentin sniffed again, rolling his eyes as he stood from the bench and walked ahead.

Nathaniel picked the butt from the floor, flicked it into the nearest trashcan on the way out of the locker rooms, and was making his way to the hallway for his monitoring period when his phone vibrated. He sighed, checking his phone.

**13:15PM: Staying afterschool today? c; > ******


End file.
